Rep. Berman issues strong challenge to Clinton on Honduras Policy

Rep. Howard Berman is the Ranking Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on the U.S. House of Representatives (i.e. the top-ranking Democrat on foreign policy issues in the House). In November 2011, Berman wrote a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressing his concern regarding the human rights situation in Honduras and the need to examine the continuation of aid to Honduran security forces in light of corruption scandals and reigning impunity.

Rep. Berman has just written a new letter to Clinton in which he presents a serious challenge to U.S. policy in Honduras, concluding with, “So it fall to us to say it: U.S. Policy in Honduras needs a re-set.”

Berman states that it is imperative that the United States defend human rights in Honduras and “stop pretending that a coup d’état never occurred.”

He states that three years after the coup, “no one has been punished,” on the contrary, the military perpetrators have been promoted and now hold higher positions in government. He also calls on the United States to investigate U.S. ally Miguel Facussé and his security forces which are accused of carrying out assassinations.